


Self-Defense

by deadlyrainbows



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 01:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9943322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadlyrainbows/pseuds/deadlyrainbows
Summary: After a run-in with the Mafia, Wyatt takes it upon himself to teach Lucy some self-defense.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Super-thanks to Timeless-librarian on Tumblr with being my beta-reader and editor. Check her out, she's the loveliest.

Rufus shifted his weight and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, obviously uncomfortable. “Do I really have to?”

  
“Come on, Rufus,” encouraged Wyatt. “Just like I showed you. Grab her.”

  
Rufus frowned at the back of Lucy’s head for a moment, then shook his own. “I dunno, Wyatt. It feels creepy.”

 

Wyatt didn't disagree. “You’re attacking a woman from behind. I’d be worried if you didn’t feel creepy.”

 

Lucy crossed her arms impatiently, rolling her eyes. “Is someone going to assault me any time soon?”

 

This incited a stifled giggle from Jiya, who sat cross-legged on top of a nearby table, tap-tap-tapping away at her laptop. The four of them were in a spare meeting room at Mason Industries. All of the room’s furniture had been pushed up against the walls, leaving a large space in the center, perfect for practicing self defense; self-defense practice that Wyatt had insisted on after seeing the bruises on Lucy’s arm.

 

Safe in the lifeboat after a mission in New York, 1928, he had leaned forward to help Lucy with her seat belt. His hand brushed against her arm and she winced in pain.

 

“Sorry,” Lucy apologized when Wyatt recoiled, thinking he’d hurt her. Her hand went to the sore spot on her left arm, halfway between her shoulder and elbow. “That mobster must have grabbed me harder than I thought.” Rufus stopped fiddling with the control panel and turned in the pilot’s seat, his concerned eyes meeting Wyatt’s.

 

“Don’t be sorry.” Wyatt gently pushed the seat belt out of Lucy’s way, careful not to graze the sore spot. “Take off your coat and let me see the damage.”

 

She carefully slid the fur-collared overcoat off her shoulder and felt Wyatt stiffen across from her.  “Son of a _bitch_ ,” he breathed.

 

It hadn’t been an hour since their encounter with the Gambino family, but a series of  distinct bruises had already blossomed on her pale skin. Her complexion had turned an impressive combination of red, blue and purple. She prodded one tentatively, grimacing at the throbbing pain the touch provoked.

 

“Jesus, Lucy,” Rufus leaned forward in his seat to get a better look. “You can see the shape of the guy’s hand.” From the size of the bruises it was obvious that Lucy’s attacker had been enormous, and the wide splay of the finger marks revealed that he hadn’t been gentle.

 

Lucy tore her wide eyes from the gruesome discoloration to look at Wyatt, who had become uncharacteristically quiet. She was dismayed to see that his hands were clenched into tight fists and his blue eyes were clouded with anger.

 

Guilt pulled at Lucy’s insides. “Wyatt, I’m really sorry. I know should have been more careful-”

  
“Stop.” Wyatt interrupted. Rufus and Lucy flinched, and he realized he’d spoken louder than he meant to. He took a calming breath, and when he spoke again his voice was much gentler. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” He fixed his gaze on the bruise, unable to look either of his friends in the eye.

 

“Wyatt, this isn’t your fault,” Lucy argued, looking helplessly to Rufus for backup.

 

“I should have been there to protect you.” Wyatt said adamantly.

 

“The Mafia locked you in a meat freezer,” Lucy countered impatiently.

 

Rufus nodded in support of Lucy’s very valid point. “It is kind of hard to protect someone from inside a meat freezer.”

 

Wyatt opened his mouth to argue, but Lucy silenced him with a gentle hand on his clenched fist. He involuntarily relaxed under her touch.

 

“You’re being too hard on yourself.” She said sternly. “We can’t always stick together during a mission. Sometimes you just can’t be there to save me.” She felt the guilt creep in again. She hated the idea that she needed defending, but admittedly found herself needing to be saved again and again. She was a weak link.

 

Wyatt’s brow furrowed stubbornly, but he could sense Lucy's frustration with herself. He was quiet for a moment before he nodded decisively. “That settles it, then. We have to teach you how to protect yourself.”

  
“W-what?” Lucy stammered at the same time that Rufus asked, “We?”

 

Wyatt finally met Lucy’s eye, full of new determination. “If I can’t always be there to defend you, then you have to learn to defend yourself. At least long enough for me or Rufus to get to you.”

  
“What, Rufus doesn’t have to take self-defense lessons?” Lucy asked indignantly.

  
“To be fair, I’m not pocket-sized.” Rufus countered rationally. “You weigh like, what, a hundred and ten pounds? It wouldn’t be that hard for someone to just throw you over their shoulder.”

 

Lucy found it infuriatingly difficult to argue with such a painfully accurate fact.

 

So there they were, the next morning, with the express purpose of helping Lucy fight back. Wyatt was teaching and Rufus and Jiya were there for moral support.

 

“Rufus, please.” He still hadn’t advanced on Lucy, and Wyatt was growing impatient.

 

“Why don’t you do it?”

 

“How am I supposed to show her what to do when I’m the one grabbing her?”

 

Jiya glanced up from her computer screen. “If you guys don’t hurry up, she might actually escape,” she interjected helpfully, seeing the way Lucy eyed the door.

  
Rufus sighed in frustration.“Fine, then!” Rufus tentatively took Lucy’s shoulder from behind, carefully avoiding her bruised side. He hooked his arm awkwardly around her neck in a loose and ineffective chokehold.

 

“About time,” grumbled Wyatt. He turned his attention to his student. “Okay, Lucy, when someone grabs you from behind like that, what do you do?”

 

Lucy furrowed her brow in concentration and tucked her chin into the crook of Rufus’s arm, like Wyatt had taught her earlier.

 

“That’s good. That’ll get the pressure off of your windpipe and keep you breathing. Now what?”

 

“I do whatever I can to make him let go.” Lucy’s right hand reached behind her and made a clawing motion at Rufus’s face. “First, eyes. If that doesn’t work, go for his diaphragm.” She softly pushed her elbow back into his stomach and tried not laugh at the high ticklish sound he made. “And bite his arm, if I have to.”

 

Wyatt gave an approving nod. “Whatever it takes,” he echoed. “There is another thing you can do if he won’t let go. Here, Luce, switch with me.” Rufus obligingly let go of Lucy, and Wyatt took her place. Rufus fixed his right arm around Wyatt’s neck. Lucy was a little peeved to see that Wyatt had to slouch in order to accommodate Rufus’s hold. If she were a few inches taller, would she been seen as less defenseless? She frowned as the irritating phrase “pocket-sized” echoed in the back of her mind.

 

Wyatt’s voice snapped her back to attention. “Lucy, are you listening? You’re going to tuck your chin in, just like before.” Wyatt demonstrated, his eyes on Lucy to make sure she was watching. “And you’re going to use both of your hands to pull down on his elbow. Now watch my feet.” Wyatt angled his right foot outwards at a ninety degree angle. Without warning, he suddenly swung his left leg wide to meet it, twisting his shoulders in the same direction. The sudden force startled Rufus and opened up the chokehold.

 

Still holding Rufus’s arm, Wyatt pointed at Lucy with his free hand. “If you get to this point, and you can manage it, make a break for it.” He raised his eyebrows, insistent. “I mean it.” She raised her hands in mock surrender and his face softened. “If you don’t think you can outrun him, you’ll already have your hand on his elbow. So just use that hand to push up, and your left hand to push down on his wrist,” he demonstrated on Rufus. Although the motion was gentle, the unnatural angle was enough to make Rufus call out.

 

“Dude, I think she gets it!” He angled his body almost cartoonishly to relieve the pressure on his arm.

 

Lucy hid her laughter behind her hand and nodded. “He’s right, I get it.”

  
Wyatt let go and sheepishly grinned at Rufus. “Sorry, buddy. Had to prove a point.”

 

Rufus dramatically rubbed his shoulder, although he was smiling too. “But did you have to prove your point on me?”

 

Wyatt clapped him on the back, pushing him softly towards Jiya. “You ready for a go, Lucy?”

  
She nodded,her face so fiercely determined that it took a great deal of effort for Wyatt to keep a straight face.

 

“Alright. I’m not going to hurt you, but I’m not going to let you go, either. So give me your all. Don’t hold back.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “I can take it.”

  
Suddenly nervous, Lucy turned her back to him. Rufus gave her a thumbs up and Jiya offered an encouraging smile. Wyatt hooked his arm around her neck and she felt the difference from Rufus’s loose, non-committal hold immediately. Wyatt was bent forward so that he wouldn’t inadvertently choke her, but the unbudging wall of muscle against her neck made her feel claustrophobic on contact. Her fingers gripped helplessly at Wyatt’s elbow, but he didn’t budge. Her heart pounded against the inside of her rib cage and she momentarily forgot that she was not in any real danger. Flashing memories of rapidly rising water and the dark interior of a basement furnace hit her like blows to the chest.

 

She looked so distressed that Jiya and Rufus exchanged an anxious, wide-eyed look. Rufus slid apprehensively to the edge of the table, sounding nervous.“Wyatt-”

 

Wyatt raised his free hand slightly, cutting Rufus off with a calm, deliberate look. Wyatt held his position, unmoving. He could feel Lucy’s body tense and her heart rate spike, but his hold did not loosen. He bent his head forward and spoke softly in her ear, his voice low and even. “Relax. You’re not drowning. Breathe. Think. What are you going to do?”

 

Lucy fought to remain calm and clear her head. With great effort, she closed her eyes and pushed every thought from her mind until only one remained. _Escape_.

 

She began by tucking her chin into the crook of Wyatt’s arm, releasing the pressure on her neck and giving her the presence of mind to breathe. That was a start. What was next? She pushed down on Wyatt’s elbow with both hands, digging her fingers into the sensitive spot on his inner arm. With her foot angled out, she gathered all of her strength and used her leg as leverage to swing around, successfully breaking Wyatt’s grip on her.

 

Wyatt’s free hand shot out to grab her. In a fight-or-flight reaction, Lucy instinctively chose fight, and her left hand swiftly pressed down on Wyatt’s wrist while her right pushed up on his elbow. Caught off guard, Wyatt leaned into the painful twist of his arm and lost his balance, falling backwards to the ground with a heavy thud.

 

Rufus leapt to his feet, punching the air. “And boom goes the dynamite!”

 

“Hot damn!” Jiya cheered.

 

Lucy, breathing heavily, looked at them in a daze. “I did it…” she said in breathless disbelief. Her heart still pounded in her ears.

 

“Hell yeah, you did it!” Rufus confirmed, grinning ear to ear.

 

A relieved and triumphant smile broke on Lucy’s face. She’d done it! Thrilled, she spun to share her joy with Wyatt, only to find him flat on his back where she’d left him. The adrenaline in her system receded and all of her senses flooded back to her at once. Her hands flew to her face, which was turning red in embarrassment. “Oh my god, Wyatt, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

 

Wyatt lifted himself on his elbows, smirking proudly up at her. “Never been better, ma’am.”

 

Jiya slammed her laptop shut and pushed it aside. “Lucy. That. Was. Bad. Ass.” She jumped to her feet. “I have to know how to do that.” Excited, she grabbed Rufus’s hand and pulled him away from the desk. “C’mon Rufus, let me practice on you.”

 

Wyatt sat up and was in mid-motion to stand when Lucy dropped herself onto the floor and sat cross-legged beside him.

 

“Self defense is exhausting,” Lucy admitted, suddenly feeling drained.

 

Wyatt abandoned the notion of standing. Instead, he leaned back on his hands and watched as Jiya tried to get Rufus to put her in a sleeper hold. He draped his arms messily over her shoulders from behind, leaning into her and unhelpfully weighing her down. He laughed as she tried to to hold him up, her small frame wobbling unsteadily.  

 

“If you think that was tiring, imagine how it feels to protect you guys all the time,” Wyatt teased. He eyed Lucy appraisingly. “I should be careful, though. If I teach you too much, you might not need me anymore. I’ll be out of a job.”

 

Jiya’s knees slowly gave way until Rufus’s deadweight had her pinned to the floor. She tried her best to sound mad, but was too overcome by giggles to get the words out.

“Yeah, right.” Lucy huffed. She rolled her eyes, partly at Rufus, partly at Wyatt. “I don’t even want to think about what would happen to us without you.” She watched Rufus and Jiya with an amused smile, but her hand betrayed where her thoughts really were as it absently drifted to the still-vibrant bruise, skirting the tender edges.

 

Wyatt felt a sharp ache in his chest to see how thin and fragile her fingers looked against the broad hand print. He swallowed a lump in his throat, unable to tear his eyes from the violent reminder of his failure. “Me neither.”

  



End file.
